KEYNOTE SPEAKER - STEM CONFERENCE

Darryl M. Fraser is a retired corporate executive with more than thirty years of experience in the global aerospace and defense industry. Darryl’s experience spans engineering, strategy, business development, communications and government relations. He retired from Northrop Grumman in 2016, after spending his last eight years as corporate vice president of communications reporting to the company’s CEO. He was responsible for the company’s worldwide communications strategy and execution, including media relations, employee communications, advertising, executive communications and branding/corporate image. He led the development of the company’s global brand strategy, including development, test marketing and launch of the company’s tagline that still is in use today, Northrop Grumman – That’s the Value of Performance. He also served on the company’s corporate policy council and as the management liaison to one of the committees of the company’s board of directors. 

Darryl joined Northrop Grumman through its TRW acquisition in 2002. He started his career as a summer engineering hire, returned after graduation and served in a number of increasingly responsible positions in the company’s space and information systems businesses. He served as director of strategic planning, director of government relations, vice president of Washington Operations, and sector vice president of business development before joining the C-suite, becoming the most senior African-American at the company.

Darryl earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served as a Brookings Congressional Fellow. 

Darryl is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and serves on the advisory boards of the Posse Foundation Washington, D.C.; Evans & Chambers Technology, an information technology company serving the national defense and intelligence communities; and the 50K Coalition, a national collaborative seeking to increase the number of female and underrepresented minority engineering graduates. He is a past Chair of the Communications Council of the Aerospace Industries Association and past Chair of the Finance Committee of ServiceSource, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides employment opportunities for people with differing abilities. 

Darryl is currently Co-Chairperson of MIT’s William Barton Rogers Society and a member of the MIT Annual Fund Board. He previously served as regional Co-Chairperson of the MIT Educational Council, which is responsible for coordinating interviews with MIT alumni for all freshman applicants to MIT from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and is a recipient of the MIT George B. Morgan ’20 Alumni Award for excellence in support of the Educational Council.